Big city railroading with transit and trolleys in 4’x6’ EMPIRE CITY TRANSIT

The old adage that “Everything old is new again” seems to ring true with 21st century urban developers. After being abandoned wholesale by most munici- palities by the mid-twentieth century, rail-based mass-transit has once more gained popularity within our gridlocked cities. Streetcar, or to use the more mod- ern term, “light rail” systems, are being built and expanded upon as fast as local budgets allow. Several small cities in- cluding Tampa, Florida and Kenosha, Wisconsin are examples have construct- ed brand new “trolley” systems that op- erate old style street cars. Denver, Col- orado; Baltimore, Maryland and Dallas, Texas have followed San Diego, Califor- nia’s example of modern light rail opera- tions running the latest articulated cars. Other cities that were able to hold on to portions of their old systems like San Francisco, California; Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania have modern- ized their lines with new track and over- head wires and upgraded their equip- ment with new cars of European design.

Railroad commuter operations are ex- periencing a revival as well. Both state and regional authorities have been mov- ing forward in rebuilding old systems and developing new services. As new metropolitan areas develop in places like Minneapolis, Minnesota; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Nashville, Tennessee, new commuter rail services have been put in place to help move people from the suburbs to the city. Some use brand new locomotives and cars, while others opt for refurbished second-hand equipment. City mass transit systems like Wash-

ington, D.C.’s Metro and others are being expanded with new routes being consid- ered to keep pace with the needs of their areas. Currently urban mass transit is a hot and very visible means of transporta- tion across North America. From our perspective as model rail- roaders, urban mass transit has a lot to offer. Needing less space due to tighter curves, smaller equipment and shorter trains, even the most space star ved hob- byist can build a viable and interesting

layout. With the many new products be- ing released by the model railroad man- ufacturers it has never been easier to get started planning your very own transit system!

Streetcars and Subways – Our Empire City Transit project was designed and built to spotlight two of the more com- mon facets of urban transit, including light rail (trolley) and heavy rail (sub- way) operations. To effectively accom- plish incorporating the two differing sys- tems Empire City Transit is two layouts in one; the lower level housing the sub- way system and the Center City upper level featuring the light rail streetcar trol- ley system. As such either system can be built to the exclusion of the other.

Powering Up – Even before the first piece of lumber is cut or section of track laid one needs to decide on how the layout will be powered. Today’s layout builder has several effective methods of train control. The first is to use digital com-